


got you on my mind

by londer



Category: Dimension 20, The Unsleeping City
Genre: Being gay and just being so dumb about it, COMPLETE!, Campaign 03: The Unsleeping City, Campaign 06 : The Unsleeping City Chapter II, F/F, Friends to Friends With Benefits to Lovers, Holidays, Implied/Referenced Sex, Lesbians, Light Angst, Mutual Pining, Not a happy but a hopeful ending, Slow Burn, THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED, Thanksgiving, Trope city, Written during episodes 1-3 of TUC2 and incorporates some details/spoilers from that, Yearning, new year's
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:53:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27635714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/londer/pseuds/londer
Summary: Emiko and Sofie take a long, circuitous route towards love.
Relationships: Background Liz Herrera/Kingston Brown, Background Ricky Matsui/Esther Sinclair, Emiko Matsui/Sofia Bicicleta
Comments: 45
Kudos: 92





	1. Thanksgiving / Holidays

**Author's Note:**

> RAREPAIR TIME BAYBEEEEEEEE  
> parts one and most of two are done, three will come whenever i get around to it  
> based on [my own damn tumblr spiral here](https://myclericalromance.tumblr.com/post/634062928955457536/no-reason-to-believe-emiko-matsui-is-not-also)

“Emiko!” Sofie pounces as Emiko enters the kitchen in Ricky and Esther's apartment, taking the casserole dish from her. Emiko looks really hot, as always, but Sofie’s got more pressing issues right now. “Best pie flavor, now!”

“Uh, apple?”

Pete jolts up from he was leaning on his elbows on the island and pumps his fists in the air. Sofie lets out a dramatic little cry, setting Emiko’s dish on the counter and then pretending to faint dramatically against the fridge. “The  _ betrayal _ ,” she points an accusing finger at Emiko, who looks so pretty and confused, still dusted in snow and wearing her winter jacket. “Say you love pumpkin pie! Say it!” 

“Um, it’s good?” Emiko offers. Her face is flushed from the cold outside and the sudden shock of heat from a Thanksgiving kitchen. “I just like apple better.” 

“I guess I can live with that,” Sofie says, sighing dramatically and turning to peek under the tinfoil at Emiko’s sweet potato bake, which smells delightfully like cinnamon. “How long does this need?”

“Probably ten minutes in 350, longer if it's just a warming drawer,” Emiko says. She’s taking off her layers to reveal a soft green sweater and black jeans that show off how absolutely unfairly beautifully  _ jacked _ she is. (Sofie saw her abs at a pool party this past summer and has not known a night of peace since.) “I’m going to go say hi to everyone, but I can come back to help out in here in a few if you like?”

Sofie would like, if only because she declared herself in charge of cooking everything and is a little bit overwhelmed. “Yeah, sounds good.” She gives Emiko her best smile and a hopefully subtle flutter of her lashes. Emiko gives a double thumbs up and leaves the kitchen. As soon as she’s gone Sofie spins on Pete. “Scram.” 

He’s already standing, gathering his little paper plate of pre-dinner snacks and his phone. “Get it girl,” he says in a fake little gay falsetto, and she snaps a kitchen towel at him. He just snickers and blows her a kiss before heading into the living room where everyone else is watching the football game. 

Emiko comes back and gathers her hair into a bun. Sofie does  _ not _ stare at the flex of her arm muscles as she lifts her arms up. “What needs doing?” Emiko asks.

_ Me _ , Sofie thinks. “Peel and chop those potatoes, please and thank you!”

Emiko is awesome to cook with. Maybe Sofie's biased because cooking together means that they get to spend more time together alone in the kitchen, but it's just so pleasant to be in a warm kitchen chopping veggies and chatting with a pretty girl. They've only really met a few times in passing and it's nice to get to properly know her. The brain behind the bod and all that. She knew that Emiko worked with Kingston, but she didn't know that she secretly loves all the Shonda Rhimes shows, including  _ Grey's Anatomy _ even though it's medically inaccurate, that she is thinking about getting a cat, or that she has extremely strong negative opinions about pickles.

"Do you have plans for the long weekend?" Emiko asks as she pokes at the potatoes with a fork. "I think these are almost done, by the way." 

Sofie's stomach drops out a little bit. "Uh, yeah." She says quietly. She breathes deep and taps her fingers and counts the pattern of it. "You know how I used to be married?" 

"What? No?" Emiko asks, jolting away from the pot. She doesn't look scared, just surprised. Maybe a little worried. 

"Um, yes, to Dale Lee, love of my life, would-be father of my children, et cetera."  _ Tap-tap-tap _ go her nails against the counter because this is a trigger whether she likes it or not. "He passed a few years ago. Heart condition." The lie for non-umbral-arcana folks. 

"Jeez, I'm so sorry Sofie," Emiko says. She puts a hand on top of Sofie's tapping hand and if Sofie can't make a little noise then she's going to cling to the lifeline of the warm skin of Emiko's palm. 

"Thank you," she says, brushes a latent tear. "Anyways, his birthday is the thirtieth, so I go visit him." She rolls her shoulders and stiffens her spine. "Sorry, what a sad thing to talk about." 

"No, it's perfectly okay," Emiko says. She squeezes Sofie's hand and then withdraws it to go drain the potatoes. "That must be so hard. You don't have to tell me anything else if you don't want to." Whatever she says next is lost in the gush of steam as she drains the potatoes in the sink. 

"What was that?" Sofie asks. She takes a nervous sip of her water and does one last set of taps on the counter to steady herself. 

"Oh, just that you know you've got all of us if you need us. You don't have to go it alone." Emiko smiles at her, and it's not like the smiles she gets sometimes that are full of pity, just a real pure smile that's for Sofie and not for her dead husband. 

"You wanna hear about him?" She offers. This is steady territory. She loves to brag about Dale. Emiko nods, and Sofie's off to the races, talking about the deer and his goofy little pocket protectors and how he was so bad at parking their car that whenever he drove they would hop out and quickly switch drivers whenever they had to park. Emiko nods along and  _ mhm-s _ in all the right places through Sofie's rambling stories. 

"He was the love of my life," Sofie finishes softly. Dinner's nearly done. There's a flash of something like disappointment in Emiko's face and she realizes what she's said and quickly - "Well, one of them at least. I think life is long and there's lots of time and space for love! But Dale will always be in my life, at least a little."  _ When he can sneak out to see me _ , she thinks but can't say. 

"That's really lovely," Emiko says, squeezes her shoulder gently. "I think the turkey's ready to come out now." 

* * *

Kingston invited Emiko to his holiday party and she accepted without a second thought. It's not like she has other plans, and besides, she likes all of his and Ricky's friends. There's a gift swap, which she signs up for, but when the email of her match lands in her inbox, her stomach drops out at the name  _ Sofia Lee _ . Sofie's so freaking cool; Emiko doesn't have a clue what to get her and she really doesn't want to disappoint. 

She calls Ricky, who picks up right away. "Emi, hi, is everything okay?" He asks. 

"Yeah," Emiko says, startled. He sounds really worried. "Everything’s fine. Are you okay?" 

"Oh, yeah," Ricky says. "You just don't call me. I thought something was wrong. Ox says hi." There's the loud sound of his dog breathing into the phone receiver. "What's up?" 

Emiko feels a little silly, suddenly. "Oh, it's not a big deal. I just got Sofia for Kingston's gift swap and I don't know what to get her." 

"Oh," Ricky says. "Hmm." 

"I just don't want to disappoint her," Emiko's over-explaining for some reason, but she can't seem to stop herself. "I want to get her a good surprise, you know? But I don't know her that well or what she would like. We've only talked four times before."

"Seriously?" 

"Yeah," Emiko's fully pacing in her bedroom now. "Kingston's birthday, your birthday, the pool party your friend Rowan threw, and Thanksgiving." Ricky makes a surprised little noise and she can nearly hear the cogs in his brain going. "What?" 

"Uh, nothing," Ricky says, but he sounds weird. Why does he sound weird? "You just have a good memory is all."

"Well it's not  _ helping _ me if I don't know what she would want for a holiday gift!" 

Ricky lets out an inscrutable sigh. Emiko feels like he's somehow making fun of her, which is stupid, she just wants to give his friend a good gift. "Sofie likes cheetah print. Italian pastries. Goofy little knick-knacks. Obviously don't get her anything with alcohol in it, but I think she's the kind of person who likes gifts with...intentions." 

"Intentions?" What the  _ fuck _ does that mean,  _ intentions _ ?

"Like, you saw it in the store and thought of her," Ricky says. He coughs, and it sounds too deliberate to be real. "She'll probably be happy with anything you give her." 

"Well, I can start with cheetah print," Emiko says. This conversation was mostly useless and a little frustrating. She should've called Esther. 

* * *

Sofie looks  _ good _ tonight. She loves an excuse to get dressed up and Kingston and Liz’s hybrid holiday party is the best reason she’s had in a while. Her hair curls perfectly around her face, her red lipstick has neat edges, and her Spanx have sucked her neatly into a shiny gold dress with a short skirt and long puffed sleeves. Pete and Esther both wolf-whistle jokingly at her when she comes into the kitchen where they’re sitting with Liz. 

“Dressed to impress, Sof?” Esther asks her, smirking over her cup of cocoa at Sofie. 

“Always, baby,” Sofie says, giving them a little twirl to show off. She would dress nice for this no matter what, but if a certain hot nurse is here...well, all the better, is what she’s saying.

“Emiko’s in the living room,” Pete says. His eyebrows are doing something terrible. “You should go say hi.”

“Uh, okay,” Sofie says. Her heart is hammering for some reason. She wishes she wasn't self-aware and could blame it on the flights of stairs up to the Herrera-Brown apartment. She goes to leave the warm kitchen and squeezes past Ricky through the doorway to head up the little hallway into the separate living room. 

“Ah ah ah!” Pete crows, pointing over their heads. “Mistletoe!” Esther backs him up with a chorus of  _ oooh _ s, like they just got called to the principal’s office. 

Sofie looks up, and there it is, a tiny green spring. Ricky looks embarrassed and starts trying to apologize, but she just pops up on her toes and plants a perfect lipstick stain kiss on his cheek. “For good luck,” she says airily, already turning to head out into the living room. 

“Uh, okay! Thanks Sofie!” Ricky says. Then, “Oh, is my face bleeding?”

She leaves it to the others to explain to Ricky what lipstick transfer is, and goes into the living room. Kingston is fiddling with three TV remotes trying to get the sound to come through on the yule log channel he has on. Cody is wearing an ugly goth-themed Christmas sweater and getting absolutely swept by Kingston’s father in dominoes, Iga is on the couch talking to a few people Sofie doesn’t recognize but she presumes are Kingston’s friends based on their age, and Emiko is curled up in the armchair trying to help Kingston without actually getting up. Emiko also looks good tonight, in a long red wrap dress. There’s a little bit of cleavage and a lot of arm muscle (Sofie wants to memorize those forearms) and a soft crease in her brow as she reads instructions off her phone to Kingston. 

Technically, there aren’t a lot of free places to sit in the room, so she feels like it could be easily justified when she goes over and perches on the arm of Emiko’s chair. "Happy holidays!" she says. 

"Sofie!" Emiko says, and Sofie's heart squeezes at how genuinely happy she sounds to see her. "Happy holidays. Here, do you want to sit?" She makes to stand up. Sofie's not. Proud, exactly, of what she does next. Which is to simply "slip" off the arm of the chair and into Emiko's lap. It's good sized recliner, there's definitely room for Sofie to sit sort of perpendicular to her in her lap. "Oh, okay," Emiko says. Her eyes widen and then she relaxes back into the chair. "This works too."

"Sorry if I'm squishing you," Sofie pretends to apologize and starts to move, but Emiko wraps an arm around her waist so she doesn't actually go anywhere. Damn, Sofie's so good at flirting. 

"You're good," Emiko says, who's looking at her phone again. Her thumb is dragging up and down against Sofie's waist, which is very nice. "Kingston, are you sure the speakers are plugged in?" 

Dinner is boisterous, and Sofie makes sure to sit next to Emiko at the table for maximum flirting and arm bumping time. Then Pete and Cody do the sixth night candle lighting for Hannukah and then it's gift swap time, baby! Sofie had Pete and she got him a pair of booty shorts with  **YOU ARE NOT IMMUNE TO PROPAGANDA** written on the ass and a box of his favorite treats from Spaghetti's. 

_ Emiko had her. _ Sofie doesn't squeak in delight when Emiko sheepishly hands her a gift bag. Inside is a pink cheetah print reusable water bottle and a  _ pumpkin pie scented candle _ -! Sofie immediately unscrews the lid and shoves her nose in that sweet goodness. 

"Since it's your favorite," Emiko says awkwardly, but she's grinning at Sofie's reaction and Sofie hasn't been this happy in a  _ long _ time. This is like, almost a Visa gift card good. It's like she got a Visa gift card and spent it herself. 

"It's perfect," Sofie says, and finds herself nearly tearing up. She throws caution to the wind and herself into Emiko's arms. Emiko hugs her back right away, and Sofie buries her face into the sweet vanilla smell of the crook of her neck. She pulls back, and then does a double take when she remembers she can't just suggest they use magic to light her nice new superior pie scented candle. "Let's go find some matches." She grabs Emiko's hand and pulls her towards the kitchen. 

The mistletoe. Sofie remembers right while they're under and she freezes, which makes Emiko stop as well, which plants them firmly under it. There's nobody around in the hall or in the kitchen, but Sofie's really obviously staring guiltily up at the door frame. 

"Oh," Emiko says. She's got the hand Sofie's not holding wrapped protectively across her body. 

"Oh, uh, yeah, haha, mistletoe," Sofie says. She should drop Emiko's hand, but she doesn't. She wants to kiss her so badly it's not even funny, and here it is, the perfect opportunity dropped into her lap, but Emiko looks nervous so she's not going to push it. "We don't have to, like, do anything, though, you know?" 

"I -," Emiko fumbles, thinking loudly with a little surprise in her eyes. "Yeah, no, of course." She blushes - it's  _ so  _ cute, Sofie can literally see the blood rushing into her cheeks - and then ducks down the inch or two between their height differences - for a second Sofie thinks! But no, - and plants a quick peck on Sofie's cheek and pulls away with a soft smile. "There. Good enough." 

Not good enough in Sofie's mind, but good enough is good enough. She's not going to be a dickhead and insist they like make out or anything. "Good enough," she says, and pops up to give Emiko a kiss on the cheek as well, because that's  _ not _ weird, especially since Emiko did it first. Her heart skips a double beat, both remembering all the times she and Dale were under the mistletoe together and at the new flush of heat in her chest when she looks at Emiko in the warm glow of the kitchen lights. She pulls back and Emiko's blush and soft smile is even firmer than before. "Okay, let's go find that lighter, I wanna smell my candle." 


	2. santacon / new year's

"Sofia Lee, in room 12, came in earlier this evening, bad bruising on the side, possibly some broken ribs, on concussion watch. Waiting on x-ray results to come back." 

Emiko's brain shorted out when Carly said Sofie's name, and she nods blindly, only half listening as they complete Carly's end of shift handover to her. Room 12 is her first stop on her rounds, even though it's not the first place she would normally go. She's praying that it's not her Sofie, well, the Sofie she knows, that is, but she walks firmly into the room to find Sofie curled up in the bed with big ice packs along her side. Esther and Ricky are there too, sitting in the visitor's chairs pulled up beside the bed. 

"Oh, shit," Emiko says. They all snap to look at her, standing in the doorway holding her iPad full of charts. "Sofie! And Esther and Ricky!" 

Esther lights up at seeing her. Sofie puts her head in her hands and groans. Ricky waves. "Told you this was her ward," Esther says to Sofie, who is blushing and looks miserable. 

Emiko desperately wants to ask what happened to Sofie, so that she can go kick the shit out of whoever hurt her, but she's a professional and doesn't. "I'm just here for my rounds, to do vitals checks and, uh, stuff." She can feel the urge to fuss and tamps it down. Carly is capable; Sofie's IV is probably inserted perfectly. She skims through Sofie's chart as she goes over to the bed. Taking vitals is easy, but there's a rush of nerves with every brush of her hands against Sofie's skin as she checks her pupils, takes her pulse, gives her breathing a listen. "Heart rate's a bit high, could just be the adrenaline still," she muses as she enters everything in. "Pain any worse than when you came in?" 

"No," Sofie says. Emiko doesn't like seeing how quiet and pale she is right now in her sterile gown in bad hospital lighting. 

"Good. If that changes, hit the buzzer and I can give you a little more in your drip. Pupil response is still slow, so you can't go to sleep just yet." She points at Esther and Ricky. "These two need to keep you awake until we're sure nothing is wrong. X-rays are backed, we should have your results later tonight." Emiko misses the finality of getting to snap a manila folder chart closed at the end of a patient. Tapping out of the digital chart just doesn't have the same gravitas. "Any questions for me?" 

"Nope," Sofie says. She yawns, and looks guilty. 

"Make  _ sure _ she stays awake, and if it seems like she can't hold on any longer, you page us, okay?" Emiko says to Esther seriously. 

"Gotcha," Esther says. "Thanks Emiko." 

She nods and takes her leave. Her heart is racing when she closes the door behind her and takes a second to steady herself before moving on to the next room. She wants to hover so badly, but she can't, she has other patients to check in with. There are bandages to change and pills to distribute and doctors to page about worsening conditions. Emiko's able to duck in on her rounds twice more, and waves hello to Pete and Cody, who have taken up the watch on Sofie. 

She gets off her shift at a bright and perky seven am. Night shift is rough, but Jenny just had her baby and she owes it to Veeksha to take the night shifts this round of schedule jumble. She changes quickly into her post-shift sweats, wishing she had brought a nicer outfit, and goes back up to Sofie's room as a visitor. Dr. Marlin's in, holding the big stack of x-rays that are finally up from radiology. 

Emiko waits in the hall until he emerges. "Nurse Matsui," he nods to her. Marlin's a funky old man who still calls everyone by their full title, but he's a good doctor. "Friend of yours?" 

"Yes," she says, and he holds the door for her to step in. 

"Fighter, that one," he nods approvingly and goes off to his next page. 

Sofie's sitting in the bed, looking extremely tired from a long night with no sleep. Ricky and Esther are back, both looking slightly better than her, having relieved Cody and Pete's shift. "Are you here to free me?" Sofie asks, holding up her IV'd arm. 

"Can't, sorry," Emiko says. She hits the page button for Sofie. "I'm off shift, it has to get done by someone who's actually on right now. Good news?" 

"Nothing broken, no concussion, I get to take normal painkillers and put ice on it," Sofie says, flopping back against the pillows and then wincing. "Ricky, pass me my phone?" 

"What even happened to you?" Emiko asks, because she's been dying of curiosity all night. 

Sofie doesn't look up from her phone. "Oh, some asshole at SantaCon knocked me over." 

Emiko has been a nurse for almost a decade now. She fucking  _ knows _ when patients are lying to her, and Sofie is a textbook liar right now, averted vision, funny tone to her voice, guilty shoulders. "Seriously?" 

"Yeah," Esther says. "Don't worry, I knocked him on his ass." 

Esther is a better liar, but still not good enough to pass Emiko's bullshit radar. There's something they're not telling her, but she's also not going to push too hard. "Well I'm glad you're alright." 

"Thanks," Sofie says, looking up from her phone to give her a soft smile. "And thanks for looking after me last night." 

Emiko's blushing. Why is she blushing? "Oh, it's just my job. You know. I'm glad you're okay."

* * *

Kingston's apartment swings with people and music. The lights are golden, the tree is still up, and food is spread across plates and platters on every surface of the kitchen and on the coffee table in the living room.There’s no alcohol out of respect for Sofie and Pete’s newfound sobriety, just several cases of Martinelli’s to be poured into plastic champagne flutes. Ryan Seacrest’s Rockin’ New Year is muted on the TV in the background for people who want to watch and the whole affair blooms with life. 

Sofie is sitting on the couch mainlining pigs in blankets with Esther. Bruce is snuggled in between them for maximum fussing and pets and they're chatting quietly about nothing.

“Hey boy,” Emiko says as she comes over, ruffling Bruce’s ears and feeding him a carrot stick she must have pulled from a platter. She looks  _ really  _ good in tight black pants that hug her muscular thighs and a sparkly gold off-the-shoulder top. Her hair is pulled back in a curly bun and her mouth is painted a pretty dark red. “Hi Esther, hi Sofie! How’s your night?” 

Sofie’s brain went offline looking at the curve of Emiko’s collarbone and neck. Has she ever seen that part of her before? It’s beautiful. Esther rescues her. “It’s all been good!” And then throws her to the wolves. “Here, take my seat, I’m going to go get another drink.” She stands to go, winking at Sofie as she goes off towards the kitchen.

Emiko takes Esther’s seat, and her ridiculously ripped arm presses all along Sofie’s and their hands brush as she also starts to pet Bruce. “What about you?” Emiko asks blithely, because all this physical contact isn’t unnerving  _ her _ . Sofie needs to get a grip on this crush ASAP. 

“All good here,” Sofie says, like an idiot. God she’s so dumb. Okay, say something cool: “I love your top, it’s  _ so _ cute.” Not cool but okay, Emiko’s smiling, she can still pull this off without embarrassing herself.

* * *

Sofie’s so nice to talk to. It really helps to tamp down the butterflies in Emiko’s stomach whenever she sees her. Sofie’s doing better from last week's incident, no other concussion symptoms and she swears the bruising is almost gone from her ribs. The night wends on quicker than expected, and before Emiko even realizes it, they've been talking for hours and it's nearly midnight. Everyone is gathering out on Kingston's balcony to toast the new year. 

"Bruce won't like the fireworks," Sofie says quietly to Emiko under the rush of people moving past them. She's biting her lip but Emiko wouldn’t know anything about that as she’s decidedly not staring at Sofie’s pretty mouth.

"We can stay inside," Emiko quickly says, and Sofie grins up at her. They turn in towards each other so they can form a little protective bubble around Bruce to snuggle him while everyone on the balcony starts shouting. Sofie slings one of her legs ( _ short and bare under her teeny little mind-blowing miniskirt _ ) over the top of Emiko's, and their foreheads nearly brush as they curl around Bruce, who whimpers sadly as the shouting outside gets louder as the seconds count down to the new year. 

For a moment, Emiko sees a flash of a future where she has a temporary fit of madness and leans forward and kisses Sofie at midnight. She doesn't, of course, because Sofie's not even really looking at her, focused on fussing over Bruce. Somehow that just makes Emiko want to do it more.

* * *

Sofie's  _ wiped _ by the time the party starts to fizzle out at nearly two a.m., stumbling in her heels towards the subway station with Pete and Emiko. Emiko wraps an arm around Sofie's waist and under normal circumstances she would be savoring the feeling, but right now she's freezing cold and about ten seconds from falling asleep on her feet. 

"Are you sure you're good to get home?" Emiko asks her, brow knit with concern. "It's got to be an hour and a half back to Staten Island from here." 

"Yes," Sofie says sleepily, planting her face into Emiko's shoulder. She's so warm and strong. "Maybe. No. It's fine." Two hours on a cold train sounds like shit, but such is the price of staying true to her roots. 

"You can crash on my couch, if you want," Emiko offers. 

Sofie very deliberately does not perk up at the offer. She makes eye contact with Pete over Emiko's shoulder. He gives a Look. She flips him off behind Emiko's back. "Are you sure?" 

"Yeah, of course," Emiko says. Her eyes are so bright and earnest. "I'd hate for you to be getting home at four in the morning." 

"Okay," Sofie says. She lets herself go a little lax again, letting the tired ache flood her bones and cracks a huge yawn. "Thanks. Night Pete," she says pointedly, as Pete hops down the steps towards his train. He doesn't look back, probably because he's laughing at her, the smug bastard, but he does wave. 

Emiko's apartment is a little one-bedroom over a consignment store. Emiko's arm stays firm around her waist the entire train ride over and the walk from the station. Sofie relishes the close contact and does her best not to feel bad about it. It's a new year, she can indulge herself just a little bit. There's an elevator at her place, thank god, because Sofie definitely cannot handle any more walking, let alone clomping up three stories of stairs. 

"Okay, so I'll grab you some sheets - oh, shit," Emiko says. The lights click on in her main room to reveal soft blue walls, a small kitchen, and a grey couch that's currently covered in several heaps of clean laundry. "I meant to put that away before I left but I didn't think - okay, new plan, you can go ahead and go to sleep in my bed since you're already wiped. I can clear off the couch for myself and sleep on it afterwards." 

It's a new year. Time to indulge herself, even if it'll probably only make this crush worse in the long run. "No, you shouldn't, I'm sure we can both fit in your bed." She pokes her head into Emiko's dim bedroom. Queen bed. This is definitely going to work. 

"Are you sure?" Emiko's standing by the couch holding a bra, which she quickly stuffs underneath a t-shirt. 

Sofie rolls her eyes. "I'm not going to put you out of your own bed and I  _ promise _ I don't snore."

* * *

Emiko wakes up warm. The small part of the back of her brain that is actually functioning remembers that today is New Year’s Day, and she does not have work. She snuggles in closer to the soft body she’s wrapped around and falls back into nothing. 

She wakes again. Still New Year’s, still no need to wake up if she doesn’t want to. Emiko nuzzles her face into the back of Sofie’s neck and breathes in the sweet hair salon smell of her shampoo. Sofie fits so nicely against her as the little spoon; Emiko has one arm holding her waist loosely and their legs are tangled together. 

Emiko closes her eyes and relishes the warmth of another close body. 

Her eyes snap open as her brain fully comes online, and it’s all she can do to not yank herself away from Sofie. She should move, right? They hadn’t fallen asleep like this, and Emiko doesn’t want to make her uncomfortable. But Sofie is still asleep, her breathing still slow and even, and Emiko also doesn’t want to wake her just yet. She lies there awake for a long time, still cradling Sofie close to her chest and trying hard not to fixate too much on the way her chest rises and falls under Emiko's hand, or the way Sofie's ass presses back into the curve of her hips. Sofie's really beautiful, and she looks blissfully peaceful in sleep. Emiko feels a little Edward Cullen-y, but she takes the opportunity to study the lines of Sofie's soft form anyways.

Emiko doesn't know how much time has passed when Sofie finally starts to stir with little twitches of her legs and head. She cracks an enormous yawn and then her whole body stiffens in tell-tale surprise of unexpectedly finding herself in bed with someone else. Emiko quickly goes to withdraw the arm she has thrown over Sofie, but Sofie snags her hand and pulls her arm back over her. Sofie wiggles around a bunch and heaves herself over so they're still curled together but now facing each other. One of Emiko's arms is still tucked under Sofie's neck and she carefully puts the palm of the other on the small of Sofie's back. 

"Sorry," Emiko says, not really meaning it but trying to be sincere anyways. She really doesn't want Sofie to be uncomfortable about all this, and does feel a modicum of guilt over how much she’s enjoying getting to hold her.

"No worries," Sofie yawns again, blinking up at Emiko with those lovely heterochromatic eyes of hers. She's beautiful while she's sleeping, but it's even better when she's awake and her face floods with light and life. "I'm not one to complain about waking up with some nice strong arms around me," she squeezes Emiko's biceps as she says that. 

Emiko flushes at that, but there's a clever little light in Sofie's eyes, so she pulls her arm out from under Sofie's head so she can prop herself up on it, giving herself a little bit of a vantage point to look down at Sofie as she flexes jokingly with her other arm. Sofie's still got her hand on her muscle, and the light in her eyes is more narrowly focused now. "Hah, I try," Emiko says, trying to hide the way she wants to shiver at the feeling of Sofie's palm against the sensitive skin of the inside of her bicep. Her throat feels a little tight and she's trying hard not to just stare at the loose part of Sofie's mouth. Their faces are pretty close together, there's not a lot of other places to look. 

"Yeah, you sure do," Sofie says. She's looking so directly into Emiko's eyes. Emiko never wants to look anywhere else, because this is Sofia Bicicleta Lee and there is nobody else in New York - maybe the whole world - like her. "Bet that's useful," she says, still looking up at Emiko. Emiko's not fully sure when they moved, but Sofie is nearly on her back and Emiko is nearly on top of her and Sofie's hands are firm on the swells of Emiko's arms. Sofie's eyes drop from the mind-melting eye contact they've been holding, drag across Emiko's mouth, and then flick back up with that same dark light in them. 

And, well, Emiko's  _ not _ one of those completely oblivious lesbians. She drops down on her forearms, giving Sofie plenty of time to move away in case she misread the situation. Sofie smiles up at her, drags her hands up Emiko's arms to drape over Emiko's neck and Emiko carefully catches Sofie's mouth in a soft kiss. One kiss turns into two into three into Sofie pulling Emiko bodily down with a surprising strength. Sofie's hands sweep up and down her back, rucking up her shirt and dragging her nails in lines up her skin. Emiko slips one hand under Sofie to cup her head and tilt her mouth for a better angle for Emiko to tease their tongues together, and holds firm to Sofie's soft waist with the other. Emiko's brain is extremely loud but also extremely empty right now. All that exists is the soft feel of Sofie's warm body and mouth against her own. 

She pulls back for half a second to pull her hair back into a better ponytail so it's not falling into her face so much. Sofie smiles up at her, pure and open and lovely, just a little flushed and red-lipped, and pulls her back in.

* * *

It should be weird after, Sofie thinks. Except it isn't, which is kind of awesome, because they keep ducking into each other's space for easy little kisses as they get dressed again. She evaluates her appearance in the warm lighting of Emiko's bathroom mirror, pulling her hair back into a hair tie and fixing her bangs. Sofie feels like she should look like she just had crazy good sex, but she just looks like herself, plus messy hair and one or two hickies that fall below her shirt collar line anyways. Emiko's considerate like that. 

It's not the  _ only  _ way Emiko's considerate, but Sofie promised to go to her mom’s today and doesn't have time to get distracted and drag Emiko back into bed for another round or two so she lets that train of thought go for now. She splashes cold water on her face and wipes away the last smudges of yesterday's mascara.

Emiko's standing in the doorway to the bathroom wearing an oversized sweatshirt and a satisfied smile when Sofie turns to leave. Sofie kisses her one more time, because, like, come  _ on _ . Emiko's hot as fuck and strong and an excellent kisser and a sickeningly good person to boot. "That was fun, we should do it again sometime," she says, grabbing her purse from Emiko's counter and her phone from the charger. There's a couple of eyes emojis from Pete and a  _ hope you get home safe _ from Kingston, the big softie. 

"Absolutely," Emiko says. She looks nervous, which, bad, Sofie doesn't want her to be nervous, she wants her to feel awesome. Sofie slips her heels back on and then goes over to take Emiko's hands. They're almost of a height now. Emiko smiles, looking a little sheepish; she must be able to see the concern on Sofie's face. "Sorry, I'm fine, this was...really great, hot, awesome, yeah. Do you want breakfast?" 

This  _ girl _ . Sofie would love to stay for breakfast. And lunch. And dinner. And more sex. And cuddles. And to listen to Emiko talk about every detail of her life, interesting or mundane. She pushes up on her toes to give Emiko one last sweet kiss. "I wish I could stay, but I really did promise my mom I'd come over today and Ma will freak if I cancel." She bats her eyelashes, because she's not above a little dirty pool. "You’ll text me, yeah?" 

It's gratifying to see how Emiko swallows before nodding. "Absolutely." She walks Sofie to the door and Sofie gets in just one more kiss because she’s feeling selfish. 

Sofie is a thirty year old woman. She doesn't check her phone every thirty seconds the whole train ride to her parent's house. She checks it every three minutes, like an adult.

**kingston brown (uptown)**

_ Hope you get home safe. _

_ All good :)) _

**peeta**

_ 👀👀👀 _

😉😉😅🤭🤪🥵

_ sksksjskak SOFIE  _

_ EXPLAIN?? 🍆🍆??????? _

_ 😆 on train ill call u later kay _

_ how daRE u hold this above my head _

**Emiko 💖💖 Matsui**

_ hey this is emiko!  _

_ oh i think you already have my number oops _

_ so um _

_ this was really fun and i (personally) would love to do it again sometime soon  _

_ (but like only if u want to no pressure obviously) _

_ 😉😘 absolutely yes _


	3. Valentine's Day / Saint Patrick's Day

Sofie is starting to become a semi-permanent fixture in Emiko's apartment. Not that Emiko minds! Not one bit. Sofie fits perfectly in her arms in the doorway, in the kitchen, on the couch. In her bed. (Mostly in her bed.) She's got a toothbrush in the cup in the bathroom and there are several pairs of lounge pants and t-shirts that Emiko has mostly stopped wearing since they're practically Sofie's now for when she comes over. Sofie has her side of the bed and the Mickey Mouse mug she always snags for coffee when it's clean and sometimes Emiko wishes - 

Well, she's not going to push it. Sofie's still getting over Dale, based on their conversation at Thanksgiving, and Emiko doesn't need a label. What they're doing right now is really great.  _ Really _ great. She doesn't even mind the train rides to Long Island because she knows Sofie and her beautiful smile will be waiting for her at the station. They go back to Sofie's place (where Emiko also has a toothbrush and a spare pair of sweats that she's trying to not read too much into) and, well. Have a truly inordinate amount of marathon sex interspersed with truly some of the best conversations Emiko’s ever had.

January speeds by in a rush of Sofie - work - gym - friends, in that order. Emiko can't remember the last time she smiled this much. Her friends are all starting to give her side-eye when they go out for dinner or drinks and she's only half there. Jess keeps asking if she’s going to bring Sofie to brunch sometime and Megumi sighs pointedly whenever Emiko gets too excited about her phone blipping when they have Tuesday movie night and Krystal had shrieked and caused an absolute ruckus during that same movie night when she had finally unearthed Sofie’s instagram because  _ you didn’t tell us she was HOT, Emi! _

Kingston will ask after Sofie when their shifts overlap and she feels weird answering, because like, they're  _ not _ girlfriends, but obviously they do talk a lot and text every day so she usually  _ has  _ an answer. Ricky and Esther know something is going on, and Emiko knows Esther is about to go up a wall because there’s not an official ruling on what they are to each other, because Esther is really into labels and categories. Ricky just seems happy that Emiko is happy and fondly shoulder checks her while they’re on their Saturday runs together.

Valentine’s Day is coming up. Maybe she should take her shot, or at least broach the subject of dating. She can always backtrack if it gets weird, she supposes. Emiko’s not sure why she’s this nervous, she was the one who asked out her last two girlfriends after all. But then again, she wasn’t in this deep ( _ in deep _ is  _ not _ the same as in love, she’s  _ not  _ in love) about either Angel or Crista. The stakes were lower then. Emiko’s not sure her heart could handle it if Sofie stopped wanting her around.

* * *

It’s Valentine’s Day and Sofie has ordered six packages’ worth of lingerie. They’re not  _ dating _ , even if Sofie would really like it if they were, but Valentine’s is a perfectly good excuse to put on something sexy for your friends-with-benefits that you caught feelings for. Nothing is fitting exactly how she wants it, or the lace is too itchy, or it’ll take too long to take it off. She wants this to be special, no,  _ inspirational.  _ The kind of hot that’ll get Emiko to ask her out already on sight. And like, yes, Sofie  _ could _ ask Emiko out but Emiko hasn’t said anything about dating or the long term and what they’ve got right now is so fucking good that Sofie doesn’t want to risk completely messing everything up.

She knows she’s got to be a complete mess to all their friends, mooning after a beautiful smart lovely kind sexy woman. Sofie doesn’t even care, not even when Pete publicly roasts her at Dream Team dinner for being on her phone texting Emiko under the table, because she’s  _ smitten. _ Sofie hasn’t felt this way since the early days with Dale, fresh out of cosmetology school and playing a teasing game of flirtations with the accountant whose office was right above the first salon she worked at. Emiko gives her butterflies in her stomach and weak knees and a completely empty head, no thoughts. Sofie wants to be able to call someone that smart and kind and lovely her official girlfriend, but she also really doesn't want to scare Emiko away with how intense her feelings for her already are.

Hence the mountain of lingerie sitting on her bed. It feels kind of weird to essentially send Pete a bunch of nudes but she’s desperate for a second opinion. Pete mostly replies with the fire emoji and a  _ sof u look hot emiko’s gonna die, _ which is cool but worries her because the intention behind it needs to clearly come across as  _ please let's bone in a romantic way _ .

Sofie finally settles on some black lacey pieces that have enough straps where clearly An Effort Was Made To Look Good For You but also are easy to get out of and frankly make her boobs look insane. She throws a red sweater dress over top and opens her door to find Emiko holding their bag of takeout. 

“Hey,” she says, playing it up a little sexy by leaning against her door dramatically, and her stomach swoops with joy when Emiko ducks right in to give her a kiss. Normally they have a weird moment when she comes over before Emiko relaxes and settles into Sofie's space. This is a very good sign that her plan is working.

“Hey, you,” Emiko says. She brushes Sofie’s bangs out of her eyes and is smiling so prettily as she goes in for another kiss. Sofie melts into it and lets her come all the way inside and then pins Emiko against the front door. “You look good, Sofie.” 

Emiko’s hands are warm on her waist even through the fabric of her dress. “Mm,  _ you  _ look good.” Sofie says, which is true, she’s in a pink sweater and black high waisted trousers. But also Emiko literally always looks good, even after fourteen hour hospital shifts. She nearly gets derailed from her master plan of romantic seduction but remembers at the last minute and moves to kiss along Emiko’s jaw to whisper in her ear, “But what’s underneath is even  _ better _ looking.”

She can almost hear Emiko rolling her eyes even as her breath hitches. The takeout bag drops to the floor and Sofie’s suddenly the one being pinned to the door with strong arms lifting her up so Emiko can rest her forehead against Sofie’s. “Oh yeah?” Emiko asks teasingly. Her hands feel so nice where they’re holding Sofie’s thighs and her mouth is ghosting just up against Sofie’s. The plan is maybe backfiring a little, but in an  _ extremely  _ pleasant way, so Sofie’s just going to roll with it.

* * *

Emiko kicks herself the whole way home from Sofie’s place on Sunday night. All weekend, all  _ Valentine’s Day weekend _ , and she never managed to get the guts up to even  _ nudge _ Sofie about her feelings towards being properly romanced and dating again after being widowed. Because  _ god _ does Emiko want to romance her, wants to bring her flowers and Edible Arrangements and take her to every restaurant that she has saved in her bookmarks as  _ potential date spots _ and go do the touristy New York things that nobody from here does because they’re not interesting anymore. She wants to hold her hand and call her  _ sweetheart _ and fight over whose turn it is to empty the dishwasher. 

But no, she went and got  _ distracted.  _ Although Emiko doesn’t think  _ anyone _ could focus on adult conversations about dating and relationships while Sofie Freaking Lee is in your lap wearing the smallest amount of fabric that could still count as underwear.

* * *

The front of the scaffolding is starting to buckle under the weight of fool's gold that this little leprechaun fucker is summoning in pelting blasts from his hands. Sofie peeks up from behind the planter she's hiding behind to clock its new location. Stupid fucker, who attacks a  _ hospital _ of all places. Why isn't he downtown with the Saint Patrick's Day parade?

She can't quite clock him, but Esther comes dodging over to her. "I'm going to go start trying to vanish the gold on the scaffolding. Can you go give me a distraction?"

"Absolutely," Sofie cracks her neck and her fingers light up with arcane light. Esther gives her a thumbs up and starts running towards the scaffolding running along the side of Saint Owen's. Sofie jumps up onto the planter, summoning a swirling chasm of light around herself. "Hey ASSHOLE, I'm ITALIAN!" There's a howl of rage and a ball of green starts zooming at her, but she's quicker and catches him up in a delicate web of golden ropes made of pure light. "Got him!" She yells to Kingston, who comes limping over, holding an arm with a bunch of slices out of it ( _ ouch _ ) from the hailstorm of gold.

Sofie makes another quarter turn towards the emergency bay and makes direct eye contact with Emiko, who's standing beside an empty ambulance, jaw hanging open. There's a puddle of coffee forming at her feet.

"Oh,  _ fuck _ ," Sofie breathes.

* * *

Kingston's not done explaining but Emiko is done listening. She gets up and walks right out of his fucking  _ magic storeroom closet _ , vision half-blurred with angry tears, and stumbles up the hall towards the staff locker room. "Family emergency," she says to Terry, who's running the desk. There must be enough shock and hurt on her face that Terry just gasps sadly and tells her to  _ go home, kiddo _ , phone already in hand to call in someone to cover the last few hours of Emiko's shift.

She changes out of her scrubs and into her street clothes, breathing deep to try and calm the way she wants to break apart and scream or cry. Thank god it's mid-shift so the room is empty and nobody is there to see her struggling to get ahold of herself. There's fury in her veins, and sadness, and betrayal, and she yanks one of Jess' stupid little shamrock danglies from the ceiling when she bumps her head into it on the way out. Emiko smooths her hair and makes sure she has all her shit and leaves. 

Sofie's standing in the hallway outside, holding her jacket in her arms. "Can we talk?" she asks. Emiko's never heard Sofie be this quiet or reserved. Beautiful wonderful Sofie who she was maybe about to  _ love _ , who has lied to her about just - about  _ everything _ , it seems like. 

"No," Emiko says. Sofie's face drops but she doesn't stick around to watch, just turns and walks up the hall quickly. Her hands are shaking as she leaves through the staff entrance, waving good-bye to Craig in the security booth, and as she swipes onto the subway and as she tries to fit her keys into the lock so she can stumble into her apartment and sit right down on the floor against the front door and let out the howling sob she's been holding in for the past twenty minutes. 

Magic is real.

_Magic is real_ and everyone she knew and loved _lied_ to her about it. Kingston and Esther and Pete and Cody and _Ricky_ , her own damn _brother_ who she thought would never tell a lie in his life have been keeping this from her. How many times has Ricky made some vague excuse when he cancelled plans or not come to family dinner? She always thought that maybe he had work, or a date, or _something_ _normal_. Not that he was running around with a sword and a wizard girlfriend fighting, Emiko doesn't know, sewer monsters or hobgoblins or something! 

And Sofie. She can barely stand to think about her. Emiko really convinced herself that Sofie just kept a weird NYC hairdresser schedule, huh? When she came in to St. Owen's after Christmas, was it really someone pushing her on some ice or was it something far more sinister? Sofie never fucking said anything, and, well, maybe that's the sign Emiko needs that she wasn't serious - was never going to  _ be _ serious - about the two of them. She sobs, big and gulping, pressing her hands into her eyes to relieve the pressure headache in her forehead. Emiko was just Sofie's normal mortal side piece while she ran around the city throwing lasers from her hands or whatever it is they do. Emiko's brain can barely parse out the golden storm of light that Sofie has wrapped herself in on the street outside St. Owen's. If she had actually wanted something more then surely she wouldn't have carried on whatever the hell this coverup is.

No, Emiko got in too deep into her own feelings and then projected them out on Sofie and now she gets to cry on her floor because what? Because she convinced herself someone like Sofia Lee was going to want her?

At some point, her tears stop being sad and start being angry, because how dare they. How dare they lie to her face, probably mocking everyone that they fooled for not seeing through their bullshit. Kingston's been her friend for  _ years _ and every damn day he went into that supply closet, not even ten feet from the ward desk where Emiko works, to do his little magic dealings. Esther became one of Emiko's closest friends after she and Ricky started to be a serious thing and Emiko was always respectful of how she never liked to talk about what she does for work but now she wishes that she hadn't been so nice because what the  _ fuck _ . 

She keeps coming back to Sofie and she wishes she wouldn't but it's Sofie, the shining apex of it all, lovely and strong and funny and a deceitful  _ bitch _ who - well, no, sex magic could be real but Emiko doesn't think Sofie's actually a bad enough person to use it on her if it is. Emiko's feelings seem to be her own damn fault. She doesn't like obsessing, but she does, sitting there in a heap against her front door, over every memory she has of bruises that Sofie couldn't quite explain or when she couldn't get together because she "had work" (as a  _ hairdresser??) _ at ten pm on a Saturday. 

When she's finally done sobbing her sorry self out she pulls herself to her feet and her phone from her back pocket. There's six missed calls and fifteen texts from traitors. She ignores them all and thumbs open her groupchat with her friends instead. 

**Mccaughlin hall hotties (v. 2)**

**Jessie:** krysss i left my charger at ur place

**Jessie** : can u bringi t to work tmrw pls

**krystal** : yes bby got u 

_ today, 5:14pm _

**Me:** things ended with Sofie

**Me:** come over with wine and takeout?

**Megummy:** i'm going to kill her

**Megummy:** I'll be there at seven after my shift

**krystal:** nooo!!

**krystal:** unless u need someone there with u Right Now i'll hit a liquor store and Tia Cece's and be there in an hour

**Me:** hour's fine. I'll be here. 

**Megummy:** emi babe u deserve so much more <33

So she drinks her feelings and eats her weight in chips and guac and a burrito the size of her own face and cries some more all over Megumi and Krystal while the new terrible season of  _ The Bachelor _ plays in the background. Krystal deletes Sofie's number and her texts from Emiko's phone and Megumi bags up any traces of her in the apartment to get rid of or at least put in deep storage for three years from now when maybe Emiko decides to be nostalgic. It's really healing, and Emiko's just so grateful to have her girls who have her back. 

Life resumes. Quieter, without certain people in it anymore. She goes to the gym more often, to fill the time and she visits her parents only when she knows Ricky won't be there. Work is hard, because Kingston is there and the stupid magic closet that Emiko can hardly believe she didn't ever notice before all this, but she simply puts on willful blinders and pretends not to see any of it. She keeps her head down and does her charts and ignores Kingston when he tries to talk to her about anything not directly related to a patient. A week passes, then two, and the worried looks on her friends' faces have slipped away because Emiko's doing okay despite how much her heart hurts in her chest. 

Ricky shows up to her apartment on a Thursday afternoon in early April. She pretends to not be home and doesn't answer the buzzer, and he eventually gives up and leaves. He tries again on Saturday, when they normally would've gone on their weekend run together. She's tired from a night shift, which is why her guard is down enough to forget to be angry when she sees him through her peephole and opens the door. Emiko remembers too late that she's pissed at him, but his bulk has already squeezed into her apartment. 

"Emi," he says, and holds out his hand to her like she's a skittish dog. She resents how there are already tears rising in her eyes. He's her  _ brother _ and he  _ hurt  _ her, but he's also her  _ brother _ and it's so very Ricky of him to want things to be right between people. "I'm here to apologize. Can we talk?"

* * *

It takes Sofie three tries to get the guts up to go to Emiko's building, and a long five minutes to pick the lock to the building stairs from the roof because her hands are shaking so badly. Then she goes up and down the stairs twice, talking herself in and out of going. Finally she decides that enough is enough. Ricky talked to Emiko, gave her the a-okay to go try and make things right on her end. She's not going to be a coward anymore, and goes and knocks perhaps a bit too loudly on Emiko's door. 

The door cracks open just a little bit, the security chain still latched. "What." Emiko says. 

"No more lies or secrets," Sofie says in a rush before she can change her mind or beg Emiko to take her back. "Magic is real and I should have told you about it. I'm so, so sorry, Emiko. I don't need you to forgive me, but I wanted to apologize. You deserve better than to be lied to by the people you care about."

The door shuts and Sofie's heart squeezes, because in romantic movies it usually means - Yes! It swings back open, chain unlatched. "Did you put a spell on me to get me to fall in love with you?" Emiko asks. There are bags under her eyes and her hair is rumpled in the soft way it gets after she sleeps and there's a mean look to her gaze that Sofie doesn't think she's ever seen before. 

" _ No _ ," Sofie says, hand coming up to her mouth in shock. Is this why Emiko ran? Does she really think so little of Sofie? Emiko's in love with her? "Emiko,  _ no _ , that's - I would  _ never _ , that'd be so awful. I've never used magic of any kind on you  _ ever _ ." 

Some of the tension in Emiko's shoulders drops away, but the anger in her eyes is still there. "But you can do magic, then?" 

Sofie swallows. "Yes." She swirls a finger and summons La Gran Gata, who floats into existence around her. She's being well-behaved for once, just settling politely on Sofie's shoulder and licking her paw. Emiko flinches at the sight, arm coming up defensively. "It's okay! This is my patron, uh, the thing I get my magic from." They both just look at each other. Emiko still looks angry, but it's softened a little bit. "I know this is a lot-"

"It is." 

"-but I'm really just here to apologize. I never wanted you to get hurt by all this."

Emiko cocks her head. "Did you ever intend to tell me?" 

Sofie wobbles, and Emiko rolls her eyes and starts to shut the door, but Sofie quickly throws a hand out desperately. "I think, eventually, I would have. I don't keep secrets from people. If we were dating, definitely."

"But we weren't," Emiko says. There's a curl to her lip that Sofie hates. 'You never said  _ anything _ about wanting to date me, so you never had to." 

" _ You _ never said anything!" Sofie says indignantly. "I dropped so many hints!"

Emiko looks like she wants to roll her eyes again but it's a different look this time, more hopeful, a little indulgent. "You have a dead husband, Sofie. I wasn't going to just barge into a widow's life demanding a serious relationship." 

Well, that's fair, Sofie supposes. "Okay, well -" she splutters, waving her hands. Emiko laughs at her as she falters.It's the first time Sofie's seen her smile in weeks and her heart squeezes in her chest at the sight. She swirls her fingers and summons a bouquet of flowers from thin air, which might be a mistake. Emiko's smile drops but her scowl doesn't return. It's just a look of wide-eyed wonder as Sofie offers her the mix of blue and green, fantastical flowers pulled fresh from a dream. "Look. I really like you a lot, in case that wasn't clear. Being awake to the Unsleeping City is a huge adjustment, so I want you to take all the time you need to be angry and upset with all of us." She swallows, bites her nails into her palm. "With me. And if at the end of it, you can bear to look me in the eye, well, I'd like to take you to dinner on a real date." 

Sofie nods firmly when she's said her piece and turns to go. "Wait," Emiko says, and her heart balloons in her chest because, well, if anyone's going to be kind enough to forgive her like this, it's gotta be Emiko. Sofie turns back, tries to keep her face neutral. Emiko's biting her lip. "I'll need time," she says, and, that's  _ fine _ , Sofie can give her all the time she needs. Emiko's smile is a little sheepish. "And also your number, again. "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS DONE WOW

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on tumblr [here](https://myclericalromance.tumblr.com)


End file.
